Lloyd Kahn, founder of Shelter publications, writes about how the success of the Whole Earth Catalog 48 years ago lit the fuse of a west coast publishing explosion.
Having run a base newspaper in the Air Force, I had a journalistic bent and as all this information began manifesting in the mid-60s and, especially since people were starting to write me for dome building instructions, I thought I’d mimeo up some fact sheets—so I didn’t have to write every person individually. Stewart saved me the trouble. He had more information, a game plan, the financing, and went on to publish the first Whole Earth Catalog in fall ’68. (I still have that crude, funky and by now tattered first edition—one of my treasured books.)
It was an instant hit. Contributing to this were Stewart’s pithy haiku-like reviews, and very accurate and complete access information on all the books and items reviewed. I joined forces and went on to edit the Shelter section of three of the catalogs. To go back a bit further while still in this “credit-where-due” mode, The Dome Cookbook by Steve Baer in early 1968 gave me the first flash of insight. By God, I could do a book like this! Funky typewritten text, grainy photos, handwritten afterthoughts in the margin—just do it!
